Harith Iskander on 'aspiring comedienne' in viral clip: That's not comedy
12 Jul – Harith Iskander recently shared his two cents regarding the recent controversy surrounding an 'aspiring' comedienne's decision to take off her hijab and clothes for the sake of "comedy".
The comedian, who addressed the issue on social media recently, dismissed the notion that the said woman was doing stand-up comedy, even if it was staged at a comedy club.
"She might as well walk into a restaurant, claims she wants to be a chef, cooks a meal, boils a basketball in a frying pan, uploads a video saying 'Look at me cooking!' Do you then say, 'Chefs are stupid! Ban all chefs!'"
It is noted that last week, a 54-second video clip of a woman sparked a huge backlash after she appeared at a comedy club in Kuala Lumpur in full hijab, claiming she memorised 15 juz of the Quran and proceeded to discard her outer garb to reveal her skimpy clothes underneath.
Being a comedian for 32 years, Harith said that comedy at its core is to make people laugh by presenting something through a different point of view that the audience can recognise and relate.
"Trust me, it takes a little bit of intelligence to be able to do this smartly," he added.
The comedian said that while laughter releases endorphins and alleviates pain, watching the girl on the stage was painful, and that there was nothing funny in whatever she said.
As to why the comedy club did not get her off stage, Harith said that it was an open mic night; an event where aspiring comedians will test the waters.
"If a thousand comedians have come to an open mic night, 999 have not been mental like her. She wanted to shock and bring attention to herself, so here it is, miss whatever your name is, two minutes attention from Harith Iskander," he said.
His statement was supported by many others, including Sarimah Ibrahim, who commented, "That's not stand up nor is it funny or excusable. Its despicable and degrading for herself and for women."
(Photo Source: Harith Iskander Instagram)
